OKAY, Let me get this out of the way. I’ve never owned a Barbie doll … till now.
I’m a child of the 70’s and it was a ballerina Sindy all the way for me. To be completely honest Barbie wasn’t even on my radar. I mean, I’d heard of her but unless you were a Sindy doll or a Tiny Tears (#ifkyk) I just wasn’t interested. But when the Design Museum emailed about the new Barbie exhibition I was excited.
Move forward 40 odd years and I’m mildly obsessed!!!
Not only did I love the film – possibly for all the wrong reasons – but I could not wait for the press preview of the The Design Museum’s major highlight Barbie®: The Exhibition which is on now until February 2025. I may have even put off shooting so I could attend the launch.
This is not interiors it’s new ideas.
I wouldn’t say I’m massively cultured. I like what I like. I love an art gallery. I get moved seeing famous pieces of art and, wouldn’t miss a Tate Modern / Tate Britain press preview unless I really had to (did you read about the Singer Sergeant Exhibition. I LOVED that so much. And although obviously not interiors related I think it’s really important to see what’s going on culturally.
NEW IDEAS
Galleries are one of the best places to see how colours can be curated and used with art and display. All the colours in the Sergeant exhibition still sit in my mind – especially the coral one, and this Barbie exhibit is no different. The way the exhibition is curated will inspire, and impress – or maybe it won’t, but either way you’ll have a reaction to it and that will only ever improve your styling and writing. Getting out and seeing how things are put together is so important for feeding creative minds.
Why am I so obsessed with Barbie?
To be honest I have no idea why. I never had a Barbie house – I made my own doll houses from cardboard boxes and later moved the rooms inside cupboards with shelves for floors. I never had the fancy clothes, shoes, cars or much-desired Afghan doggo (that pooch obsession obviously started early) and maybe for me that’s where the excitement for Barbie comes from. The creative play of having a doll.
Was that the start of my journey to becoming an interior stylist?
I didn’t consider a career in interior styling. I didn’t know that was a thing. It was suggested to me during an interview for a design job on Homes and Ideas. I talked a lot about making tassels, cushions and curtains. About how I loved to transform and upholster furniture. “Sounds like you should be an interior stylist” the interviewer said… and the rest is history.
But did it start with a dolls house?
Hindsight would lead me to believe it all started with a sewing machine at 8 years old. My daughter is following in the same footsteps.
She was also given a sewing machine at 8 years old – no matter how hard I tried to persuade her to have a new size-appropriate scooter. I wanted a speedier journey to school. She wanted to sew. She would not have it. It had to be a sewing machine.
We bought her one of those John Lewis starter ones – that can’t sew over your fingers (like I did!) It was pink and small and sewed as well as my Elna. We even appeared in Psychologies Magazine talking about her sewing.
Why am I sharing all this with you dear reader?
Well, Beau getting that sewing machine encouraged her to make clothes for her dolls, then herself. She was advised not to do both Art and Tech GCSE’s at the same time. It was thought that two creative subjects would amount to too much coursework. They had a point, but she managed it fine. She’s a creative.
What’s she doing now? Well, Beau went to The Brit School to do Visual Art and Design – their equivalent of A levels and then got unconditional offers to every University she applied for. She wanted to do Production arts and chose Design Realisation at Guildhall in London. She’s now switching to Technical Theatre because that makes her heart literally sing (my words not hers). I’m not saying this to brag but if the shoe fits…
So what does this all have to do with Barbie?
When Beau turned one years old we bought her a set of ‘My first Barbie’s’. It consisted of four dolls with big heads and very much tweenage shaped bodies- no big boobs. That’s where it all started. Her creative journey came out of her love of building a world for her dolls. I still have some of the accessories she made including magazines (well her mum was a Home Editor around this time), a handbag to hold her homemade laptop. She even made a donut shop once, complete with glass (clear plastic from recycling) counter top. I’ve also still got those dolls in her memory box in the loft- kinda close to my Sindy.
When I think about Barbie, I think blonde, blue eyes, big boobs, tiny waist. Everything I’m not, but what a world she lives in and I want to make more worlds for her. Even today at 50 something, I want to make her new clothes, make her a bed in a shoe box with fat eiderdowns made from Liberty London prints. I want to create and, craft and design for her. Either I’m obsessed with interiors and creating, or I never grew up. I’ll let you decide.
Final thoughts.
With all of these thoughts swirling around my head it’s no wonder I snapped up a vintage Barbie and Ken doll at a charity shop whilst out propping the day after I went to the Design Museum’s exhibition. My first Barbie! They’re both standing on my desk. Babs can’t stand in her ridiculously high heel shoes and keeps nose-diving into my bin below. I’ve found myself talking to her – “What are you doing? You don’t belong in there!” Oh dear. I feel a new non-interiors vintage collection on the horizon and I am so here for it.
Wanna come play?
The exhibition
I LOVED it. And you will too.
Barbie® : The Exhibition The Design Museum
Barbie®: The Exhibition is on at the Design Museum until February 2025. Tickets are available to pre-book now. Booking in advance is strongly recommended as it gets busy.
You can read my review of the Barbie Exhibition here
